Facebook helps sister find lost brother in Canada

IANS | Ottawa
|
February 16, 2016

Shylow Wilson's new year post helped her find her younger brother Matthew Handford

A Canadian woman found her long-lost brother after posting a message on social media website, Facebook on New Year's Eve, the media reported on Tuesday.

Matthew Handford, who tracked down his sister, Shylow Wilson, after reading the post on Facebook in which 25-year-old Wilson said she was looking for her biological brother named Matthew who was given up for adoption by their mother after he was born at Calgary's Grace Hospital in February 1987, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I was a little skeptical, but now that I've met him, I know it's for sure him, and I'm really happy about that," said Wilson. It was a "good Family Day miracle" right there, she said.

Her younger brother Handford also turned to Facebook last December to look for his three siblings. All he had was their names on a piece of paper his adoptive mother gave him, based on some research she did back in 1996.

Handford contacted a lady named Wanda Levasseur on Facebook, since she had the same last name as his mother, Marilyn Levasseur who died after a battle with alcoholism.

He did not hear back until last Thursday, when Wanda showed him Wilson's post. Handford reached out to Wilson on Facebook and then by phone, before flying from Toronto in east Canada to Calgary to meet his sister on Saturday.

"I was adopted at four days old, so it's the only family I know. To find out I've got an extended family now, it's a great feeling," Handford said.

Handford said he would definitely stay in touch with his sister. "It took this long to get together, so (we've) got a lot of time to make up," he added.